The third Fashion Week of the season after New York and London has one fixed factor: the weather is mostly nice.

In September you can enjoy late summer in Milan, while north of the Alps it can usually get uncomfortable.

After all, you can rely on it.

Otherwise, there is not much else that provides stability during this time, neither the prices on the stock exchange, nor world events, nor a pandemic that has caused fashion to stand still for two years and is not yet over.

The worries at the Milan Fashion Week, which has been presenting fashion for the next spring and summer in almost 70 shows since Wednesday, are nowhere to be seen.

Anke Schipp

Editor in the "Life" department of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper.

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A lot is the same as always.

Giorgio Armani, 88 years old, tanned after the show of his second line Emporio Armani, entered the catwalk and has acquired the status of the Queen in Milan: He is simply (still) there.

The same can be said of Miuccia Prada, 73 years old.

But since she brought in Belgian designer Raf Simons, who is almost 20 years her junior, as co-creative director two and a half years ago, she has kept her collections fresh, which could be seen on Thursday at the headquarters on Via Lorenzini: a romantic one, but otherwise simple Collection held in the colors gray, white, black with few orange, yellow and red elements, "without unnecessary complexity", as Miuccia Prada announced after the show.

The innovative element is dresses,

A show like a powerhouse

Some brands are currently looking for a breath of fresh air in Milan.

At Etro, once a traditional family company that was recently sold to the luxury group LVMH, it is creative director Marco de Vincenzo who is expected to provide new impetus and symbolizes this with a baton that was sent as an invitation.

The Italian brand Bally, whose collection can be seen for the first time on the catwalk in Milan, is also hoping for something similar with the new Malina-born designer Rhuigi Villaseñor.

Sometimes it is also a new logo that is supposed to give the kick.

The Salvatore Ferragamo brand, founded by a shoemaker in Florence in the 1920s, has adopted a clean typography that is replacing cursive writing.

Boss also comes up with a new logo, which is emblazoned in large white letters above the entrance to the Velodrome in Milan, where the Swabian brand is presenting its new collection.

The show is a show that comes along like a powerhouse: an army of models dive down the catwalk, the techno beat is only drowned out by motorcyclists driving in circles in huge metal balls.

Influencers line the red carpet

Like all brands, the Swabian company tries to keep up with modernity.

Drones are circling above the scenario, sending spectacular images out into the world almost simultaneously, influencers who are barely of legal age line the red carpet and are greeted by hundreds of screaming teenagers behind the barriers.

Khaby Lame, one of the most successful TikTok stars in the world with 142 million followers, is a Boss brand ambassador and gets a special round of applause on the catwalk.

The Moncler brand, which was founded 70 years ago in France but is better than ever thanks to the tight leadership of its CEO Remo Ruffini, shows how old can be successfully combined with new.

The anniversary will be celebrated with a big event on Saturday, but the truth is that the brand with the down jackets is looking ahead rather than back.

This also applies to the Gucci and Bottega Veneta brands, which, like Prada, set the trends in Milan.

The owner-managed labels Versace, Tod's and Dolce & Gabbana, which are still very popular with Italians, are trying to keep up with new twists and turns.

The pictures of their shows on Friday and Saturday are also sent out to the world at the same time and shared widely.

And yet, at the end of the day, the catwalk with the models and the guests on the chairs is the scenario of a fashion week that has been the same for decades.

And that has something calming these days.